Erfarna oskulder och arbetande hemmafruar
en studie kring kvinnor i moderniseringsprocesser
This is a theoretical study of changing relations between men and women in the context of modernisation. Ideas derived from a general theoretical discussion will be illustrated by examples from countries that are going through societal changes affecting the lives of men and women; Uganda, Morocco and Mexico. Focus will be on connections between changes in the public sphere and interpersonal relations in the private sphere. One part examines certain effects of women?s increased participation in politics and in the workforce, concluding that these changes may cause conflicts with traditional values and consequently tensions in inter-gender relations. The following part examines sexuality and respectability in relation to societal changes where people?s material conditions change and attitudes are affected by information flows from other countries. The examples in this part illustrate how young people, especially women, feel trapped between the demands from their new reality and traditional norms about how to behave. I then go on to discuss power structures that affect women?s possibilities to live the lives they want and also how it may affect their values and interests. The concept of empowerment will be discussed as well as the indicators used to measure women?s empowerment. In this section I will also briefly explain development projects directed towards women and how they sometimes fail to capture all dimensions necessary.The conclusions are that the definition of modernisation that I had when I started this work is not sufficient to understand the processes that people go through. It is important to understand that changes in people?s material conditions, their economic environment etc. are not always caused by, or even followed by, changes in attitudes, values and interpersonal relations. When societal changes do not come from within the society they will cause conflicts between norms that shape peoples perceptions and the demands from their new material environment. Another conclusion is that in measuring women?s empowerment we need to look at other factors besides economic and political participation, such as women?s status in the family and their control over their own bodies.